Wall Street closes down as tech stocks fall

Wall Street's main indexes closed lower on Monday, driven by a drop in AI leader Nvidia that weighed on tech stocks, as investors looked ahead to a crucial inflation report set for later this week.

Nvidia fell 2.5 per cent after China's market regulator launched an investigation into the chipmaker over suspected violation of antimonopoly law, dragging the information technology sector down 0.45 per cent.

Advanced Micro Devices slipped 5.7 per cent after BofA Global Research downgraded its rating on the stock, weighing on the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which slipped 0.87 per cent.

"The market was taken a bit by surprise regarding China's investigating (Nvidia) as a possible antimonopoly-law violation. So that's one thing that's putting a little damper on the market," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 240.59 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 44,401.93, the S&P 500 lost 37.42 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 6,052.85 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 123.08 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 19,736.69.

Nine out of 11 S&P 500 sectors lost ground, led by declines in financial stocks.

Comcast slid 9.5 per cent after forecasting a loss of more than 100,000 broadband subscribers in the fourth quarter, denting the communication services sector by 1.3 per cent.

Shares of Hershey surged 10.9 per cent following a media report that Cadbury parent Mondelez was exploring an acquisition of the chocolate maker. Mondelez shares fell 2.3 per cent.

Investors are anticipating the consumer price index (CPI) data set for release on Wednesday, along with the producer price index (PPI) on Thursday, ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting on December 17-18.

Bets of a 25-basis-point rate cut at the upcoming meeting shot up to more than 85 per cent after data on Friday showed a rise in the unemployment rate to 4.2 per cent in November, indicating an easing labour market.

Several Fed officials, including Chair Jerome Powell, emphasised caution regarding the central bank's approach to easing monetary policy due to the economy's resilience.

Wall Street's main indexes started December on a positive note, with the benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq both gaining in their first week, while the blue-chip Dow ended the week slightly lower.

On Monday, Workday rose 5.1 per cent after S&P Dow Jones Indices said last week the company would be added to the S&P 500 index.

Interpublic Group climbed 3.6 per cent following a report that marketing giant Omnicom was in advanced talks to acquire the advertising company. Omnicom shares fell 10.3 per cent.

US stocks soared in November after Donald Trump won the presidential election and his party secured control of both houses of Congress, raising expectations for a more business-friendly policy agenda.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.24-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 216 new highs and 35 new lows on the NYSE.

The S&P 500 posted 21 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 122 new highs and 60 new lows.

Volume on US exchanges was 15.11 billion shares, compared with the 14.46 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.